Is a website necessary in a digital business age?

You may believe that you have a small business,
just you and a few employees, and your product really can’t be sold online. So,
do I really need a website?

It’s one of the most important and most
frequently asked questions of the digital business age.

There are clear signs that indicate that a large
portion of future business revenues will be derived from online transactions or
from offline transactions that will be the result of online marketing efforts.

So should your business have a website, even if
your business is small and sells products or services you don’t think can be
sold online? Yes, if you have a business, you should have a website. No
question. Without a doubt.

Also, don’t be so quick to dismiss your product
as one that can’t be sold online. Nowadays, there’s very little that can’t be
sold over the internet. More than 20 million shoppers are now online,
purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet
airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will
figure out how to sell it online.

Let me clarify one point: I’m not saying you
should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though
if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be
considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least
have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business
partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about
your business and the products or services you have to offer.

That said, it’s not enough that you just have a
website. You must have a professional-looking site if you want to be taken
seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to
making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar store, your site may be the first
chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer. If your site
looks like it was designed by a barrel of colorblind monkeys, your chance at
making a good first impression will be lost.

One of the great things about the internet is
that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big
players. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression.
With a well-designed site, your little operation can project the image and
professionalism of a much larger company. The inverse is also true. I’ve seen
many big company websites that were so badly designed and hard to navigate that
they completely lack professionalism and credibility.

It’s actually better to have no website at all
than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes
about your business. It either says, “Hey, look, we take our business so
seriously that we have created this wonderful site for our customers!” or
it screams, “Hey, look, I let my 10-year-old niece design my site. Good
luck finding anything!”

“Your website is not just a name, It’s a brand.”

You may think that yours is a small operation, but when it comes to
benefiting from a website, size does not matter. No one cares if you’re a
one-man show or a 10,000-employee corporate giant; if you don’t have a website,
you’re losing business to other companies that do. An offline business cannot offer services round the clock.
But if you have a website your service/product can be accessed anytime 24/7. Your
target market is looking for your product online. If you do not have a website,
you are definitely losing them. People really expect you to have a website. A well-designed
website!

Your website is an important part of your business. Make
sure you treat it as such